Jeb looked at the soil, aware that it was depleted. His Skills helped him to figure out what nutrients the soil would need, or at least what he could add to the soil to make it fertile again. He was shocked out of his musings by a Notification.
Congratulations! You have completed the Minor Quest Soil Identification First Tier “Fix the Plant” You have identified what is wrong with the growing conditions for a plant. Rewards: 1 Intelligence, 20 EXP
That was a nice surprise. Jeb had completely forgotten that he had a Quest to see what was wrong with the soil. Once he had fixed the soil, Jeb looked up at the sky. There were still a few hours until dinner, but that wasn’t enough time to grow another set of Managrass. Instead, Jeb thought about the conversation he’d had with the Librarian.
He remembered that the Librarian had wanted to talk about his staff and Lute Enforcement, so Jeb decided to go back to the Library to talk. He stopped by his room to grab his lute and staff, told his family where he was going, and made his way over to the Library.
“Welcome back Jeb,” the Librarian said, “are you looking for anything in particular?”
“I was thinking about our conversation last night,” Jeb said. He was about to continue, but he saw the Librarian suddenly tense. “Is everything alright?”
“Hmm?” The Librarian seemed to notice how tense he was and relaxed his body. “Everything is fine, Jeb,” he said, though there was still a note of tension in his voice, “what did you want to talk about?”
“You mentioned being curious about my staff and lute,” Jeb replied, confused about the question. “I don’t think that the books on binding will be particularly useful to me,” he said, and he watched the hidden tension bleed out of the Librarian.
“Perfect,” the Librarian said. Something in his tone made Jeb think that there was something in the conversation they’d had that he didn’t want to revisit. Just to confirm, he started, “one more thing.”
The Librarian stiffened slightly.
Jeb continued, “it sounded like you know the Bard. Have you two met?”
The tension bled out of the Librarian once more. “We ran in similar circles back at the Capital,” he said, “He was a little surprised to see that I had come here. Then again, the feeling was mutual.”
Well that was strange. Jeb had no clue what the Librarian could be feeling nervous about then.
“So what were you wondering about with the staff?” he asked.
“Where did you get Elementally Attuned wood? Also, who cut down an Attuning tree while it was still so barely Attuned to Water?”
Jeb cocked his head. “I didn’t get Elementally Attuned wood. I was trying to learn Woodworking with my Aunt Sue. She suggested that I try carving a Glyph into my final project. If I had to guess, that’s because-” Jeb realized he was starting to ramble, so he refocused his story. “Anyways, I carved Attune Water Mana into the staff. It wasn’t totally efficient, so it leaked a little bit of light. My aunt suggested that I lean into the effect and make all of the decorations on the staff glow. It worked really well, at least as an aesthetic piece.”
The Librarian nodded, clearly humoring Jeb.
“When I did, I noticed that the inefficiencies were apparently feeding some Mana into the wood. It isn’t much, to be sure, but I’m curious what will happen if I keep feeding Mana into the Glyph.” Jeb flowed a little bit of Mana into the staff and both watched as it lit up.
They sat in silence for a few moments. The Librarian was clearly considering his next words carefully.
“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
Jeb shook his head, “not at all! Sorry if I was unclear with anything.”
“Where did you learn the Glyph for Attune Water Mana?”
“Oh shoot!” Jeb realized he’d forgotten part of the story. “So you remember how I accidentally learned the Third Tier Glyph Least Move Earth Efficient?”
The Librarian nodded.
“So then I got a Quest to make new Glyphs. I was curious how Glyphs work, and I ended up realizing that every Glyph I used had three parts, Attuning the Element, choosing the effect, and then something at the end that I’m still not sure what it’s for I tried just taking out out the effect part of the Glyph, and it turns out that the Elemental Attuning part is a Glyph in its own right!”
The Librarian just stared at Jeb.
Jeb stared back.
After an uncomfortably long silence, Jeb realized he was still powering the Glyph in the staff. “Oops, sorry!” he said, cutting off the flow of Mana.
That seemed to break the Librarian out of his thoughts. He started shaking his head at Jeb.
“I’m only asking this to confirm what I assume to be true,” the Librarian said, voice full of exasperation and fondness, “did you attempt to create a new Glyph without any safety precautions at all?”
Jeb thought for a moment. “I think I told my family that I was going to try,” he said halfheartedly, not sure in the slightest that he’d done so.
“I suppose the difference between blind idiocy and boldness are results,” the Librarian said, clearly quoting something. Jeb saw pages flash by the Librarian’s eyes as he looked at the staff. “But that is not what Attune Water Mana looks like when you normally cast it I assume?” he said, not at all as a question.
Jeb tried to think about how he could answer the question, ignoring the tone. “If I used my Glyph, would you be able to see what it looks like?” He’d never seen someone else cast a Glyph, so Jeb had no idea if the Glyphs were visible as they were activated.
The Librarian just gaped at Jeb for a few moments before seeming to come to a conclusion. “Is there a reason you’re asking?”
Jeb explained the fact that he’d never seen one cast in front of him, and the Librarian’s constantly shifting tension ebbed again. “Yes, I would be able to see the shape of a Glyph you use,” he said, so Jeb called Attune Water Mana to mind.
After casting it briefly, the Librarian signaled that he could stop. “So those are two completely different Glyph formations,” the Librarian confirmed. “How did you go between the two?”
“Well, first I tried putting a Glyph on a shovel, which was easy. After all, the head of a shovel is basically a plane, and the Glyphs all lie on a plane.” Jeb felt the Librarian shift as though he was about to correct some minor omission or inaccuracy in Jeb’s statement. Instead, he took a deep breath and sighed, gesturing for Jeb to continue.
“But that wouldn’t work with a staff, because staves aren’t squares,” Jeb said, feeling a little like he was stating the obvious. “Then it was just a matter of trying different variations on the point placements until something worked.”
“How did you test the different variations?” the Librarian asked. “I assume the answer is also with a complete disregard for the safety of yourself and those around you.” Seeing Jeb’s sheepish expression, he softened the comment a little. “Given that you’re still in one piece and not on the run from the law-” he paused for a moment as pages flashed by his eyes, “it again falls under bold I suppose.”
“I just carved my best guess into a dowel, watched where the Mana was caught, then made my best guess for what would be the best way to fix it,” Jeb said. “That’s really everything about the staff,” he finished.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“If someone I didn’t know came to me with this story, I would laugh them out of the Library,” the Librarian said. “But, it’s completely in character for you, Jeb. Do you want to put your new Glyphs in the public Glyph Repository?”
Jeb cocked his head, “What new Glyphs?”
“Although you aren’t the first to make Attune Water Mana, the Glyphs you’ve made of it are distinct from the existing ones. By putting it in the Glyph Repository, any Librarian or Mage with access can see what you’ve done. There are minimal benefits, unless you’re planning to pursue a research career. If you are, then it’s more or less vital for you to publish.”
“What are the downsides to doing so?”
It was the Librarian’s turn to look at Jeb in confusion. “It goes into the public. Anyone could copy your Glyphs if you want. The Glyph Repository also doesn’t charge any sort of licensing or royalty, so they can use it without your permission or compensating you.”
“That’s ok with me!” Jeb said, “they didn’t take that long to make, and if they’d help someone, I’m glad to be able to.”
The Librarian smiled and nodded. “The Glyphs are open to a subset of the public now,” he said. “Now, while I have enjoyed this conversation, I don’t know if my heart can handle the stress of hearing how you used Lute Enforcement to Infuse a lute today. Come back another time?”
“Ok!” Jeb responded eagerly. “Can I have access to the public Glyph Repository?”
The Librarian hummed, clearly thinking. “That’s a fantastic question. The requirements have been generally and historically interpreted as needing to be at least Tier Five along with more than your Tier in Glyphs given, at least for Mages. Since you’re only First Tier, if we ignore the floor on Tier requirements, the two Glyphs that you’ve shared would be enough for you to gain entrance. Nothing in the wording explicitly states a Tier Five minimum, but I am obligated to ask: did anyone else make these Glyphs with you, or was it your sole effort?”
“My aunt helped a little, though that was almost exclusively with providing wood and carving materials,” Jeb said.
“Then welcome to the public Glyph Repository,” the Librarian said. “Since we’re in a somewhat rural location, there is no terminal for you to access the database. You will need to ask me for any Glyphs you’d like to search for. We can discuss that more next time you come in, though.” It was clear that the Librarian was trying to get Jeb to leave, so he said his goodbyes and set off for home.
As he made his way towards the house, he realized that he hadn’t said hi to his bees yet. He made a quick detour over to the hive, where he saw them all gathered around the hive, buzzing with excitement. Working on instinct, Jeb shifted his vision to look at Mana and was surprised by what he saw.
There was a definite concentration of Mana in the hive, though Jeb wasn’t totally sure how. It wasn’t leaking Mana into the air, and it didn’t seem like the bees were bringing anything with extra Mana into the hive.
“Hi hive,” Jeb greeted, walking forward. The bees danced around him, echoing his greeting.
“So how did you get a higher Mana concentration in the physical hive?” he asked. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Jeb regretted the question. Though the bees didn’t seem to have any problems understanding him, Jeb still wasn’t able to understand what the bees were dancing when it came to anything complex. Apologizing for his lack of understanding, Jeb left the bees and made his way to dinner.
Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Chapter:
Jeb Human Age: 16 Class: Least Mud Initiate Level: 1 Experience: 4282/100
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Total Statistic Load: 283 Physical Load: 124 Strength: 28 Dexterity: 21 Endurance: 30 Vitality: 41 Presence: 4
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Mental Load: 159 Intelligence: 30 Willpower: 25 Magic Affinity: 51 Mana Depth: 25 Charisma: 28
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Mana: 585
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Glyph Attunement: 22 Least Shape Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Earth - Efficient (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Conjure Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Move Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Move Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Mud (Modified) Tier 2 Spell Attune Water Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Earth Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Air Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Fire Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell
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Bard Songs Known: 1 Lute Enforcement
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Skills: Least Mud Magic Meditation Mana Manipulation Spell Glyphing Improved Glyph Groking Gift of Gab Running Identify Soil Savvy Animal Handling Fertilizing Lifting Athletics Lute Playing Singing Musician Pollination Brewing Distilling Bardic Magic Smithing Wood Identification Woodworking
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Achievements: Focused Meditator Student of Magic
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Quests: Major: Slay the Dragon of the West (Progressive)